Carer Marries Frail Ross,83, and Inherits £750,000 Ten Weeks Later

A care worker who looked after an 83-year-old millionaire married him almost three months before his death – and inherited £750,000. Marion Morris, 52, wed frail Ross Smith in his country mansion as the old man sat hooked up to an oxygen tank in a wheelchair. Ross changed his will five weeks before the ceremony to leave Marion half his fortune. She will get at least £750,000, including half the cash from the sale of her husband’s house. If it fetches a high enough price, she could become a millionaire herself. Before her marriage, Marion earned £10,000 a year as a carer with the local council. Ross’s pals were stunned by his decision to wed, but he was determined. He sacked his faithful gardener, who had helped care for him for six years, after the man refused to witness his new will because he didn’t approve of the marriage.

A friend of Ross’s said last night: “It all happened so quickly. One minute he was looking for a full-time carer, the next he announced he was marrying Marion. He changed his will in November, got married in December and died in February. You could say that £750,000-plus is not a bad return for three months of your time.”

An insider said: “Some of Ross’s friends are disgusted. He was a lonely old man, frightened of dying and desperate for company. This woman was there to care for a vulnerable man, then she married him and has inherited a large part of his fortune.”

Ross, a retired quantity surveyor, had chronic emphysema and needed oxygen 24 hours a day to keep him alive. He had also suffered a stroke and a heart attack. He had lived alone in his country pile near Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire since his wife of 44 years, Muriel, died in 1996. They had no children.

A local villager said: “He yearned for company. He used to phone people in the middle of the night and say it was an emergency when all he wanted was a cup of tea and a chat.”

Ross, a respected member of the local Bowfield Hunt, relied on a small circle of friends. But in 2004, it was decided he needed professional care.

Marion, a divorcee from Elderslie, Renfrewshire, was one of three council care workers assigned to Ross. She helped to dress and feed him and take care of his personal hygiene.
At first, the carers visited Ross during the day. But then, as his health continued to worsen, Marion moved into the house full time. Renfrewshire Council suspended her when they found out about the arrangement. She resigned from her job soon after.

It’s understood another care worker refused the live-in position with Ross before Marion accepted it.

A source at the council said: “Everyone knew Ross wouldn’t last the winter and the first carer turned him down for that reason. She was reluctant to give up a steady job and look after a man who only had months to live.

“Ross’s memory was definitely going. He would forget things very easily. If a meal was put in front of him, he would ask what to do with it.”

A source said it was initially suggested that Ross would pay a lump sum of £150,000 to the carer who agreed to move in. But a friend told him that was a ridiculous amount, and £20,000 to £30,000 would be more appropriate.

According to the insider, Ross later held talks with advisers. And just hours later, it was revealed that he and Marion were going to wed. “Ross’s friend told him he was being silly but he said he was getting married and that was it,” said the source.

“No one could believe he had gone from accepting his second choice as carer to getting engaged to her.”{mospagebreak}

Ross’s new will was signed on November 1 last year. He left Marion half his estate, worth at least £1.5million, with the rest going to animal charities. Shortly after his fiancee moved into the house, Ross sacked his gardener. He also fired the gardener’s wife, who had been his part-time housekeeper.

Another source said: “They were a very nice couple. They did everything for Ross and they were still there for him after the carers came in.

“The gardener would run around picking up Ross’s prescriptions and making sure he had something to eat and plenty of oxygen bottles.

He didn’t get on with Marion, didn’t like what was going on, and wouldn’t be party to the changing of the will. “Days after Marion moved in, and the will was signed, the gardener and his wife were sacked. They were very fond of the old man and were quite hurt. Ross told the gardener at one point that he was in his will. But they never got a penny and Marion didn’t even notify them when he died.”

A number of Ross’s friends wrote to his GP to express concern about his plan to marry. One said: “I and several others did not think he was in a fit state to make that decision.

“His memory was going and we felt he needed a carer, not a wife. Ross was furious and demanded to know who these people were. He was cantankerous despite his frailty. After that, he thought everyone was against him. He said he was in love and that was that.”

A complaint about the situation was made to the Office of The Public Guardian, which has the power to investigate whether people are still competent to look after their finances.

But a spokesman for the OPG said yesterday: “The advice we got from a medical practitioner was that Mr Smith was capable of managing his own affairs. We then didn’t have authority to investigate.”

Ross and Marion were married on December 7 in the drawing room of his home. There were only a few guests – mostly relatives of the bride.

An insider said: “The minister said something about the ring representing eternal love. Ross normally wore the same clothes but he changed into a nice pair of flannels and a tweed jacket for the occasion. After the ceremony, they wheeled him through to his favourite chair in the day room while the guests stayed in the other room and had a bit of cake and some champagne. Ross didn’t really like meeting new people and was more comfortable through there, away from all the fuss.”

Another villager added: “Ross and Marion were supposed to go to Ballachulish on honeymoon but they didn’t go. I don’t know if the marriage was consummated but I would be very surprised if it was. Ross had made a bedroom downstairs – he hadn’t been able to get upstairs for years. She had a room upstairs.”

Marion and Ross spent 10 weeks as man and wife. He died on February 19 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and his funeral was held at Glasgow Cathedral.

A villager said: “Just after Ross died, I drove past his house and all the lights were on upstairs for the first time in years. I imagined Marion running around the house, swinging from the chandeliers. Before Ross died, she was the perfect hostess. Now you can hardly get your foot across the door. She has cut herself off from Ross’old friends.”

Ross’s home, with its formal gardens, stable block and 18 acres of grounds, is on the market for offers over £795,000. But locals believe it could sell for £1.2million, making Marion virtually a millionaire.

She has told people viewing the property that she plans to move to a newly built flat in Renfrewshire. Yesterday, Marion reacted with fury to any suggestions that she married Ross for his money.

She said: “Can you tell me who said this? I would like to take an action against them because that’s slander.”

Asked why she married Ross, she said: “He asked me to marry him. He started asking me last year and I would laugh it off. We had a good relationship. We went away for a weekend last year and we went for lunch on a regular basis. We were very close friends. This is sour grapes.”

Marion also denied being to blame for the sacking of the gardener and his wife. She said: “I asked Ross not to get rid of him. But it was October, the gardening season was over, and he told him he would give him a call back in the spring. The gardener was paid £400 a week for doing nothing and his wife came here for three days a week for less than three hours and was paid £120 a week.”